THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Thursday, February 20, 1997           TAG: 9702200054
SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B7   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: BY MAC DANIEL, STAFF WRITER 
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE                        LENGTH:   42 lines

DEEP CREEK RESIDENTS GET CHANCE TO PLAN THEIR PARK

For the past year, 225 acres in Deep Creek have been waiting to become a public park.

Tonight, Chesapeake residents will have a chance to help guide what that park will look like.

A public hearing about the park will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. at Deep Creek High School.

After preliminary plans are presented by a consultant, residents will be asked to offer their suggestions and concerns.

The park land is directly off George Washington Highway, about a mile south of downtown Deep Creek.

The city obtained the farmland and adjoining forest last year from for about $1.6 million.

Deep Creek residents have complained about a lack of recreation in their back yard, now the fastest-growing portion of the city.

Unlike other cities in the region, Chesapeake has few public recreation facilities. There are no public pools, no public golf course and few bicycle and jogging paths. The lack of recreation has been a point of complaint during recent public hearings on the budget.

City leaders have openly admitted that parks and recreation had been shorted in the past in favor of money for schools and roads. However, Mayor William E. Ward has said the acquisition of the 225 acres signals a change in direction.

Despite a tight capital budget and a projected $19 million shortfall in coming years, the City Council has decided to spend $2 million on improvements at the site.

About 150 acres in Hickory, and possibly more space over the old city landfill near City Hall, may be developed as parks eventually, but the Deep Creek park is the only one funded in this year's capital budget. MEMO: The public hearing will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. in the cafeteria

of Deep Creek High School, 2900 Margaret Booker Blvd., Chesapeake. For

more information, contact the city's Parks, Recreation and Building

Maintenance Department at 382-6411.